Monthly Archives: October 2005

I spent this past weekend in Mexico. I was in Northern Baja just south of Puerto Nuevo Mexico. Puerto Nuevo itself is an old fishing village turned big time tourist attraction boasting the best Lobsters on the West Coast. Although, I must admit I have a hard time buying into that, since I am from the east coast where our lobsters have claws. Despite this, I had a great meal and a great (clawless) lobster.

After dinner in Puerto Nuevo, we all retired to our respective houses. Summer and I headed back to our casa to walk the dogs and relax with friends. A few brave souls decided to head north to a Mexican Strip Club called Virgins. Virgins is in or around Las Gavaiotas which is another story all together. It is the snobby La Jolla of Mexico. Cool little town, clean, great apartments and houses and very safe. I just didn’t feel like I was in Mexico, Gringos everywhere, guards telling us to not talk so loud on the front porch and the supposedly private access to the wave out front was crowded with financially successful San Diego Surfers .

Ok, Back to the Mexican Strip Club story, and no, there is no Donkey Show at Virgins, not that I know what that is. ;-)

Apparently the deal with Virgins is that there are more strippers than customers. I would think that The Peoples Champ would like these odds, but the Mexican Strip Club Crew told me it was “no bueno.” On their way home, the GoGo Crew got pulled over by the Mexican Police. Normally, when you get pulled over by the Mexican police for no infraction, it is a sure thing that you are going to have to pay at least $60 to get out of a ticket or getting your car towed or having to show up at court in front of the judge. Now, here is when it get’s sketchy, they were all wasted! Drinking all day….. Drunk Driving is bad enough, but Driving Drunk in Mexico is crazy!

Luckily, one of the passengers in the car is a local, speaks the language, and more importantly knows the right names to drop. They got out of a Mexican DUI because they had smooth talking local.

Tip for you to avoid jail time, extortion and or bodily harm…when in Mexico, bring a Mexican.

Monkey, my English Staffordshire Bull Terrier is officially in heat. Monkey has been smelling everything for two weeks now, has been bitchy to other dogs and has been testing my nerves by not listening well. These are signs that my dog was going into heat.

Signs Your English Staffordshire Bull Terrier is in HEAT!When your female dog hits the age of puberty, she will start having cycles of Estrus, also known as heat. Just like in people, it is in these cycles (only two per year) that she will release her eggs and be able to reproduce. From what I understand, English Staffordshire Bull Terriers only have 3 or 4 puppies the first time they are bred.

My Staffy started to act restless in the office all day (normally she sleeps) and started to have to go pee more than her usual 3 times times a day starting about 10 days ago. She started bleeding yesterday but has had swelling of her vulva for a good two weeks now. Although she can get pregnant at this stage, any dog would be hard pressed (no pun intended) to get close to her right now. She is very sensitive and doesn’t even like strangers to touch her near her hips let alone an intact male…well…doing his thing. This stage of heat is called Proestrus and will last anywhere from 4-17 days. Last time Monkey went into heat, she showed color (the breeder way of saying she bled) for 28 days. That meant that I had to change her diaper with maxi pad out every time I walked her for 28 days. That’s a lot of changing.

Once she passes this first stage of heat, she will start the next stage of heat, which is the Estrus or Heat stage. This is when she can get pregnant. The last cycle my English Staffy went through was a difficult time for me. She was wondering around to all of my neighbors yards and sat at my French doors staring at some male lab that sniffed her out, braved La Jolla BLVD and maybe even the I-5, just to hump my baby girl. Ya see, much like your female dog, Monkey has not been taught the “rules of engagement” and had NO DESIRE to reject any male that tried to hump her. At the end of this stage, it is pretty cut and dry. Either, she is pregnant or she is not. Keep in mind, dogs will dig, jump, climb and swim to mate with your female dog in heat, so keep a close watch.

The next stage of heat is called the Diestrus and will last between six and ten weeks. My English Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breeder told me that this is when all of her hormones release and I will notice many changes in her body. She thickened up and got more of a flex your muscle type posture. At this point, if your bitch didn’t get pregnant, she may still show the signs of pregnancy. Monkey nurtured her stuffed animals that she normally “skinned” when she was bored, she whined for attention all the time and showed absolutely no interest in male dogs. She also had a false pregnancy where her mammary glands got bigger and produced some milk.

The last stage of my English Staffies Heat is called Anestrus. This stage in heat last for 15 weeks. If she didn’t become pregnant she’ll loose her interest in males, her hormones will settle down and she’ll stop producing milk. If she did become pregnant, it is during this stage of heat that she will have cute little English Staffy Puppies!

I just wanted to shoot an email over to you guys to tell you I am thinking about you guys and all of your kids!!!! Here is an update on my baby Staffy girl:

Monkey is doing great. She is almost 16 months old. She is showing all of the signs of going into heat (it has been 7months to the day since her last heat began, in which she showed color for 25 days). She smells everything, wants to wander into the neighbors yard every opportunity she gets and is getting snippy with dogs that do anything more than the usual “meet and greet” sniff. Her temperament is still great with other dogs although she prefers the company of bigger dogs. Her best friend is my girlfriends 85 pound Australian Sheppard. He is a fixed male that definitely has the hots for her ;-) Her love for children is mind blowing. I heard that Staffy’s tend to love children, but now I have seen it first hand. She has filled out nicely in the past few months; she ways a little over 33 pounds and has the posture of a champion. Her training, ongoing daily, is going great and she is very concerned with my reactions to her behavior. She sits at every curb and does not leave the curb until she gets my hand signal. She has mastered the sit/stay/down commands (verbal and hand signals) and also heels on command.

I am also linking to your site so people can find you…I get a few emails a week from people looking for an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier breeder. Let me know if you don’t want them to contact you and I will take it off.

Demystifying The Top Fashion Designers:The fashion world is very sharky waters, not for the faint of heart. This weeks’ tip will help the G navigate the Haute Couture designers specifically related to suits. This is a very good guide for the sartorial minded G.

Entry level:The two entry level price point designers are Burberry and Hugo Boss.

Burberry:Burberry is based in London. Burberry is know for its distinctive check pattern, that has become one of its most common copied trademarks. Burberry was worn by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. (entry cost $750-1000)

Hugo Boss:Hugo Boss started in Metzingen, Germany, in 1923, only a few years after the end of WWI, while most of the country was in economic disarray. Before and during World War II, many people don’t know that Hugo Boss designed and manufactured clothing for the Nazi soldiers. Still, decent suits for a big night out….(and at the cost it won’t kill you if you spill a glass of Pinot Noir on it….)

Level II (the flash designers)

Dolce & Gabbana:Dolce & Gabbana is a high-end designer company owned by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The company is based in Milan. Dolce and Gabbana is good for picking up flash foreign girls, especially Eastern Block Models and they make really dope ties. (Entry cost $1000-1400)

Gucci:Gucci, or the House of Gucci, is an Italian haute couture establishment. It was founded by Guccio Gucci. Gucci was super dope thru the disco era then almost went bankrupt. In the 90’s it was almost overtaken by a leveraged buyout. Who really cares about all that, this stuff is some of the best gear for swooping on Latina models.

Versace:Versace. Is currently headed by Donatella Versace after the untimely passing of Gianni Versace. Gianni was brutally killed in front of his mansion in South Beach Miami by Lajolla’s Andrew Cunannnan. This event marks the only time where a San Diego Beach town has gotten the better of South Beach. Donatella is doing a good job of steering the ship and is a real sweetheart, if you have the pleasure know her personally as I do. It goes with out saying that Versace is good for connecting with girls in South Beach and Ibiza.

Level III—on its own

Corneliani:Corneliani really pioneered using different colors. It is Mantova-based couturier (Northern Italy). For the price point (entry $1200) one of the best suits money can buy.

Level IV- the level I typically operate on day to day.

Canali:Canali—These suits started in the 30’s, an era which American fashion expert Alan Flusser describes as “the height of elegance.” I tend to agree with him. Canali is based in Triuggio, which is in Northern Italy for those of you who are geographically challenged. Canali has most of its fabric loomed exclusively in the Biella region which, take my word for it, is a good thing. These suits are all-purpose for business and nights on the town in high style. (Entry cost $1100-2200). These suits and ties definitely pay for themselves in Gentleman’s’ Clubs……seriously….like ten fold (where else are you going to get a return like that? Wall Street?)

Zegna:Zegna- Ermenegildo Zegna (pronounced “Zenya” not “Zeggna”….skippy) was founded in 1910 in Trivero, Italy which is also in Northern Italy. These suits ties and shirts don’t come cheap but are worth every penny. I actually wish they charged more. Most Zegna suits cost in the $2,000 – $3,000 range. Zegna’s top line is “Couture”, formerly known as “Napoli Couture.” These suits work good in Los Angeles and have been known to really work well with swooping actress chicks….don’t ask why. Also a good choice for racetracks.

Giorgio Armani:Giorgio Armani is also Northern Italian. This stuff was big in the 80’s and was what they wore on Miami Vice. These suits are dope for sure and everyone needs to own at least one. (I own ten or eleven..)

“The difference between style and fashion is quality”– Giorgio Armani

Level V-one notch below the best.

Kiton:Kiton-Ciro Paone created the southern Italian powerhouse Kiton, a Greek term used to describe tunics worn by the leaders of ancient Hellenic society(that refers to ancient Greece….squeaky). Kiton is hard to find on the west coast. Neopolitan tailors have had a long history of tailoring for the monarchy and aristocracy. Kiton challenged Brioni and Canali, and raised the bar for using fine fabrics. This rivalry between the northern and southern Italian design houses pushed creativity that we can all be thankful for. I know I am, and I have thanked Ciro personally. These suits are impeccable.

Level VI- in a class by itself

Brioni:Brioni—Brioni has always been for aristocrats. A quarter of the production consists of made-to-measure tailored suits for an elite 25,000 customers. I am happy to say I am one of them. Trump, James Bond(post 1995), Willie Brown, Royalty, John Gotti, and many successful Bank Robbers are also customers. Ready-to-wear suits run from $3,600 to $5,500, and the custom-tailored from $4,000 to $24,000. I have been telling them to raise their prices for years…….

Did you think I was going to recommend cheap suits? Do me a favor….A $200 suit looks like a cheap suit, but a $1000.00 suit makes you look like a Million Bucks…..that makes sense……Right? This should help every upwardly mobile G update their wardrobe……The Rest is up to you…..

So here I am, I currently own a Treo 650 cell phone. I get my email on it all day and SOMETIMES get phone calls. I just don’t know if cell phones were meant to be mini-computers. Half the time people call my cell phone, they get my voice mail because my Treo 650 is always syncing with the network to download my emails. I get so annoyed with this thing, because I can’t get incoming calls and mostly because I don’t get to hear all the ring tones I downloaded. Just kidding, the ring tone craze is another tangent I will go off on later.

To the point at hand: Has anybody had an EV-DO Cell Phone? EV-DO is wireless Internet broadband cellular service for your cell phone. I am thinking that because it is broadband, it won’t take so much time to download all of my emails. After all, EVDO consistantly offers 800kbps as opposed to a dial up connection through my carrier, Verizon Wireless. Therefore, I am concluding that friends and clients won’t get my voice mail when my cell phone is downloading my new emails.

I think I’ll get the Audiovox 8940: I’ll give ya’ll the cell phone scoop after a trial period.